USA ESTA

[Must...Fly!]

The number of people who arrive without securing an ESTA is really astounding. Real time approval helped, but not in every case obviously. Many times watched people frantically tapping away on their phones or laptops at 04:30 in the morning trying to get an ESTA to beat check-in closure for the first flight to SYD to connect to LAX....be prepared...

I always wondered what the correlation would be between passengers who do not secure an ESTA in time and those who travel without travel insurance. On the high side would be my guess.

 

[kpc]

I usually apply for my ESTA when I start booking non refundable stuff so this new rule won't affect me The main trap is not entering your passport number accurately on the ESRA application!

 

[juddles]

I detest the experience of arrival in the few USA airports I go through - and do so now very infrequently. But the ESTA system is great. The only flaw is that it is so simple that you fall into the trap of remembering to renew. The cost and ease of it is IMHO actually great.

 

[RooFlyer]

With my 10 year B1/B2 USA visa, I think I'm going to end up ahead . They are reading these electronically at some airports now.

 

[jb747]

I don't think the ESTA system is all that clear though, especially for people who haven't travelled much.

 

[wandering_fred]

I don't think the ESTA system is all that clear though, especially for people who haven't travelled much.

Remember this applies for the Yanks wanting to visit Oz (in reverse)
Just wandering
Fred

 

[Himeno]

The main trap is not entering your passport number accurately on the ESRA application!

The main trap is people ticketing yes on the "are you a terrorist" question by mistake.

 

[DC3]

I usually apply for my ESTA when I start booking non refundable stuff so this new rule won't affect me ...

Can't disagree with that logic.

 

[jb747]

Remember this applies for the Yanks wanting to visit Oz (in reverse)
Just wandering

I would have to admit that the better part of 45 years travelling the world in a couple of gilded cages hasn't prepared me for the rather silly intricacies that various border authorities inflict.

 

[Pushka]

Is the US better now with new passports? Seem to remember that the new Oz passport raised concerns when Trump came in.

 

[Himeno]

Is the US better now with new passports? Seem to remember that the new Oz passport raised concerns when Trump came in.

Can't think of any issues with new passports in 2016.

The VWP rules were that in order to use the program, passports issued before Oct 26 2006 had to be machine readable (the 2 lines of text at the bottom of the ID page) and that passports issued after had to be e-passports. Non e-passports were no longer able to be used for the VWP after Oct 26 2016.

My last passport was issued in Feb 2005, before Australia started issuing e-passports (which the passport office started doing on Oct 26, 2006). It was machine readable and met the requirements for the VWP.
During a trip in 2011, I was checking in with JAL at ICN. They were trying to claim I needed a visa because it wasn't an e-passport and wouldn't even try to check it on the system. They only backed down and let me check in when I pointed out the US CBP VWP entry stamp from a few months prior.

 

[Himeno]

I detest the experience of arrival in the few USA airports I go through - and do so now very infrequently. But the ESTA system is great. The only flaw is that it is so simple that you fall into the trap of remembering to renew. The cost and ease of it is IMHO actually great.

They send you an email a few months before it expires.
Provided you are using the same email 2 years after you applied, there isn't really any reason that you wouldn't know the ESTA needed renewing.

ESTA requires an email address to apply. They send a email to this address when it is approved/denied and when the status changes (eg expires, revoked)

 

[Pushka]

Can't think of any issues with new passports in 2016.

The VWP rules were that in order to use the program, passports issued before Oct 26 2006 had to be machine readable (the 2 lines of text at the bottom of the ID page) and that passports issued after had to be e-passports. Non e-passports were no longer able to be used for the VWP after Oct 26 2016.

My last passport was issued in Feb 2005, before Australia started issuing e-passports (which the passport office started doing on Oct 26, 2006). It was machine readable and met the requirements for the VWP.
During a trip in 2011, I was checking in with JAL at ICN. They were trying to claim I needed a visa because it wasn't an e-passport and wouldn't even try to check it on the system. They only backed down and let me check in when I pointed out the US CBP VWP entry stamp from a few months prior.

I thought I’d read somewhere as recently as Trump that people presenting with passports issued after the election were causing issues as to the US they may have renewed their passports simply because their old passports contained visas from particular Muslim countries. And many Aussies caught up in that.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Seem to remember that the new Oz passport raised concerns when Trump came in.

...only because he thinks the kangaroo and emu will claim asylum.

 

[jb747]

ESTA requires an email address to apply. They send a email to this address when it is approved/denied and when the status changes (eg expires, revoked)

I got a group ESTA for my son and myself just the other day. You get an email after you complete the application, with a few details on it, and that was all. After that, to check on the status, you need to log in to their site with the details from the email. All it said was that we were both approved to travel to the USA. I expected some form of number, but I assume it’s attached in their records to your passport.

 

[RooFlyer]

I thought I’d read somewhere as recently as Trump that people presenting with passports issued after the election were causing issues as to the US they may have renewed their passports simply because their old passports contained visas from particular Muslim countries. And many Aussies caught up in that.

Not quite following what you mean but I have a 5 yo passport with that Iranian visa in it that I mentioned in another thread. I had to get the US B1/ B2 visa because I had visited Iran ( and mentioned that in my US consulate interview as the reason I was applying for a visa rather than using an ESTA). No problems in entering the US a couple of times last year.

 

[RooFlyer]

I expected some form of number, but I assume it’s attached in their records to your passport.

The last ESTA I got before my visa did have a number and I recorded it and printed out the approval and carried it with me per the " always carry the hardcopy" philosophy of travel.

 

[Pushka]

Not quite following what you mean but I have a 5 yo passport with that Iranian visa in it that I mentioned in another thread. I had to get the US B1/ B2 visa because I had visited Iran ( and mentioned that in my US consulate interview as the reason I was applying for a visa rather than using an ESTA). No problems in entering the US a couple of times last year.

It was brand new passports that were causing the issues

 

[drron]

I thought I’d read somewhere as recently as Trump that people presenting with passports issued after the election were causing issues as to the US they may have renewed their passports simply because their old passports contained visas from particular Muslim countries. And many Aussies caught up in that.

The Trump decision was not issuing visas from a list of countries because their systems were dysfunctional.The list was drawn up by the Obama admin and if you had visited those countries you needed a visa.So despite popular opinion it was not Trump.

 

[Pushka]

The Trump decision was not issuing visas from a list of countries because their systems were dysfunctional.The list was drawn up by the Obama admin and if you had visited those countries you needed a visa.So despite popular opinion it was not Trump.

Okay but that wasn’t my issue, more that this was about the timing and impact for people. People arriving into the USA at about that time with brand new passports were being hassled more than usual because customs interpreted the newness as a result of people hiding something in their old passports so they got a new one. For the Aussies who were caught up it was simply that their old ones had expired.

Weirdly I’ve tried googling but cannot find anything pre 2018.